Kathleen Hou

Beauty Director Elle Magazine

Kathleen Hou is a New York City-based beauty editor, expert, and writer with 10 plus years experience in the industry. Currently, she is Elle Magazine’s Beauty Director. Previously she held the same role at New York Magazine’s The Cut. She has interviewed celebrities such as Ali Wong, Madonna, Isabella Rossellini, and more. She is also a two-time Fragrance Foundation Award winner and was author of the viral #StopAsianHate essay, Swallowing Bitterness. 

Kathleen’s wealth of expertise and insight has included on-air segments for Cheddar, NPR, and Fat Mascara. She’s appeared in publications such as The New York Times Magazine, Vogue India, Forbes, and Allure. She was also a co-founder of Donate Beauty, a grassroots beauty donation project started during the COVID-19 crisis, which donated over 500,000 products to over 30,000 healthcare workers across 500+ hospitals.